Nodidavaru Enanthare Movie Review : Naveen Shankar, Kuldeep Cariappa anchor this film, which is a triumph of art and heart

Sean Penn’s Hollywood film, Into The Wild, in its concluding moments, tells us that ‘Happiness is only real when shared’. As soon as the trailer of Nodidavaru Enantare dropped, a lot of people drew parallels to this Hollywood film. But, contrary to that buzz, NE begins exactly where Into The Wild ends. In the Into The Wild book, lead character Christopher McCandless concludes his journey by saying ‘And so it turned out only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness.’ Though unaware of it initially, Siddharth takes off on this nomadic journey in a similar pursuit.

Web designer Siddharth (Naveen Shankar), who is in his late 20s, is going through an existential crisis. Abandoned by his mother at a very young age, Siddharth is brought up by his dad; over the years he has harboured a lot of hate and anger towards his mother. His recent breakup with his girlfriend (Sonu Gowda), and the emotional distress caused by it, affects his performance at work, thus making him lose an opportunity to work on-site in Canada. Because of abandonment issues and his inability to move on from his mom, as well as his ex-girlfriend’s betrayal, he secretly harbours hate for women. And it comes out when he goes on a date with an intern who works under him. The final nail in the coffin arrives when he gets the news about his dad’s death. He eventually loses his job while attending his father’s funeral. With no one to love and care about, and nowhere to go, and nothing to do, Siddharth embarks on a restless journey. The quiet mind asks a million questions, and he hopes to find answers to the same throughout the journey. But life isn’t that simple.

On his unplanned journey, he meets two eclectic characters - Shepherd Mallanna (Rajesh), and Nadia (Apoorva Bharadwaj), and both leave a profound impact on him. With Mallanna, Siddharth returns to his carefree days of childhood. With Nadia, Siddharth, for once, lets his heart take the lead. And in the end comes the melodrama where Siddharth finally gets to confront his mother (Padmavathi Rao) for closure. Will Siddharth finally get what he is looking for?

Nodidavaru Enantare (What will people say) is a common concern among people. From career choices to life partners, even today, a lot of people take a lot of personal decisions, based on what others or society thinks. But, what if, for once, you become unhinged, and let go of that baggage and decide to live for yourself? What of you muster the courage to stand up for yourself once. The film, while asking a lot of questions, including ‘is society the problem, or worse, is it me?’, lets you make your own choice, while also partaking in Siddharth’s journey.

Naveen Shankar, known for his penchant for content-driven cinema, has added another feather to his cap. The actor aces his role as a man who lives with the constant fear of abandonment, mommy issues. His physical transformation has only added weightage to this intense drama. Rajesh, who plays Mallanna, wins over with innocence. Surprisingly, his questions have answers to Siddharth’s life problems. Naveen is aided by crackling Apoorva Bharadhwaj, who is completely herself as a free-spirited soul, who has also left time to understand what she wants in life. Though her role is small, it is impactful. She oozes confidence in the bikini scene. Padmavati Rao, who is back in Kannada after decades, delivers an emotional performance as a mother.

Director Kuldeep Cariappa has delivered an intense film, unbothered by what people would think, thus resulting in a film that is a richly, spaciously rendered account of landscape and moodscape, where long, wordless scenes merge into each other as Siddharth heads off in search of nothingness. In an era where VFX and graphics are hyped up, the filmmaker shows nature in its true colours and setting, letting it simply be and painting the screen naturally. This automatically yanks the audience to partake in Siddharth’s journey. He is ably supported by Mayuresh Adhikari’s music as it seamlessly blends with the many moods of the film. Cinematographer Ashwin Kennedy has masterfully placed the cameras in different places in nature and has let the free flow of energy take charge of colours.

The picture-book ending of the film surely reminds one of Rumi’s quote, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there”, where the couple are in their own zone, unhinged, making their own rules, without ever having to worry about ‘nodidavaru enantare’ (what people might think). The movie is poetry in motion which tugs the heart’s strings at the right places. The slow pacing only adds to the intensity of the film. Although this film feels like an extension of Naveen Shankar’s character from Hondisi Bareyiri, Nodidavaru has a lot more to offer, especially if you are a fan of feel-good films, as there is food for thought and food for every kind of feeling in this wilderness drama.